FRIDAY, 4:00pm: The Patriots have announced the signing of Long, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets.
WEDNESDAY, 5:23pm: Long will get $2MM on his one-year deal, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 8:21pm: The Patriots will sign Chris Long, according to Trey Wingo of ESPN (on Twitter). Long will now join a defensive line that has been weakened by today’s trade of Chandler Jones to the Cardinals. It’s a one-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
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The Rams cut Long on February 19 after he endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons. The soon-to-be 31-year-old suited up for just 18 of 32 regular-season games during that span, but he’s reportedly “100% healthy” and since hitting the open market, Long has indicated that his priority would be to link up with a Super Bowl contender. The Patriots certainly fit the bill in that respect, and they have a connection to Long in in defensive assistant Brendan Daly, who was the D-line coach in St. Louis from 2009-11.
From 2010 to 2013 – his last four healthy seasons – Long totaled 41.5 sacks, an average of more than 10 per year. Considering he’ll turn 31 in a few weeks, though, and is coming off two seasons in which he totaled just four sacks, his earning potential was somewhat limited.
For comparison, Jones appeared in 15 games for the Patriots last year, totaling 44 tackles to go along with a career-high 12.5 sacks. The former first-round pick also added four forced fumbles, two passes defended, and his first career interception, earning a Pro Bowl spot for the first time. Needless to say, the Pats are badly in need of Long’s help on the D-Line if they hope to offer a tough defense in 2016.
Prior to signing with the Pats, Long was also being courted by the Cowboys, Falcons, and Washington.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Belichik and the Pats are quite savvy when you actually take a moment to stop disliking them so much…great move with the trade of Jones and the signing of Long, got help on the o line, picked up an additional pick in a fairly deep draft, plus replaced Jones with the type of crafty vet that Bill loves…ok, back to normal now…gosh darn Belichik…gosh darn Pats…
Seriously, somebody is biased.
I’m from Pittsburgh and am an enormous Steelers fan…I strongly dislike the Pats…I’m just giving credit where and when it is due.
I’m from Boston so I’m biased but moving Chandler Jones and getting Cooper and a second was a great trade. Then we signed Long for 2 million which is nothing. Don’t forget that we had depth with Sheard. Bill worked his magic in the Bennett trade too. Bennett and a 6th for a 4th GENIUS. We’ve done great with the two tight end system and based on how Martellus has been playing, this could be Tom’s best tight end tandem ever.